Teamwork
by Purplecherry5
Summary: It's not easy to watch the one you love hurt so bad and feel so hopeless. He would gladly take her pain any day. AU Angst, but sweet.


AN: I have an obsession making Sakura the angsty one and Sasuke sweet. I know.

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Why their toaster had to always be a little shit, Sasuke wasn't sure.

They really should get a new one he guessed seeing how it popped the toast up, only for the metal arms inside to be weak and pop the bread back in and continue to cook it even when timer was up. He grabbed the wooden tongs they kept near the toaster for this exact reason and snatched them out before they turned to a blackened dust. He turned to the fridge for the butter – wait what jam was her favorite? - and stared at the selection. This woman had a serious issue with her affair of the jam section at TJMaxx's home section of foods. He scanned the array of rainbow fruit jars to give up and grab a raspberry and guava mixture. Who even ate guava? Did he even know what it looked like? The ding of the metal knife scraping the glass' brim brought him back to focus so he wouldn't spill the fruit everywhere. Finally, toast was dressed up and done. He walked to the bedroom to wake up his infuriating love, to only find the bed now absent.

He raised an eyebrow as he heard the shower click and start to run down the hall. How had she sneaked around him in the kitchen to reach the bathroom? He pivoted on his heel and walked down; setting the plate of food on a random desk he walked past. Hand on the door frame he saw through their light cream shower curtains that were covered in polka dots in blues. He saw she was using the chair in the bathtub again as she just sat there letting the water hit her. He sighed, running his hand through his hair.

So much for his shower and their day getting kicked off early for their errands.

He knew what people thought; that he was the moody one with daddy issues. That he, The Great Sasuke Uchiha should be the one who couldn't function right without meds and would have to go to professionals to describe his feelings. His cheerful and downright beautiful companion would have to be the strong one that handled him and reminded him how to live... That would be too cliché, yet something what he wished. He hated having to watch Sakura deal with her own demons. He would gladly take her pain any day. That he would be the stubborn one who tried to skip pills, and his doctor in training girlfriend would keep him on schedule. That he, the one that resembled darkness, would have it swallow him in it instead of his bright spring love wouldn't have to. Yet when the verdict came down almost a year and a half ago that Sakura did indeed have depression and social anxiety, it rocked him deeply to his core.

She smiled all the time; she just sometimes had bad days she said. In the long run, the occasional bad day he thought she had turned out to be every other day. She would wake up at four in the morning so she could take fice hours to get herself happy and presentable for the world to then smile all day, until she closed her apartment door to only slide down and burst into tears. It was exhausting her to keep everybody from worrying; he knew it better than anyone else. Finally one day he sat down and pulled her in his lap and asked if she really loved him. She had spun her head at him in shock, going on of how of course she did and that was he okay? She was sorry; how she was being so awful to him, for him to think that, and that she would try harder tomorrow to show him how much he meant to her. He had to silence her with a thumb running across her bottom lip. There she went again, going to try to sacrifice more of herself to another person's happiness. He asked if she really loved him, would she please go with him to the psychologist and tell him how run down you feel? She sat in silence for a while before she muttered an okay to him.

They went, and after 5 appointments the gentleman came down with papers stating she needed to go to rehab for 2 weeks. She needed them to help teach her again that living the way she had been wasn't healthy. She tried to fight it, saying how they need her at the hospital and the amount of good she was doing showed that she couldn't possibly take time off. That if she could do all of that, she would be just fine _thank you very much_. Sasuke had to help her understand it was for the best and that he would talk to her supervisors and if they had a problem with it, he would personally find that they wouldn't end up having one. Sakura cried, begging him to not ruin her life and let her just continue.

After a week of fighting she came to him one night and handed him the papers, saying she was too tired to do any of this anymore. He didn't let her out of his sight, making sure she kept herself safe and sharp objects stayed where they should. He packed her bags for her, seeing how she couldn't bring herself to do it. He knew her favorites, making sure to include her favorite comic strip covered underwear, and some sports bras she wore on days she did nothing be vegetate around on her days off. Pictures of themselves and friends lined the top of the suitcase in the mesh pouch. The little dream catcher keying he got at a carnival a few years ago before he even knew he loved her more than a friend, was laid in her left converse shoe. He wanted nothing but her to know she was loved as she sat in a circle with strangers confessing her own problems. He knew she would want to hold these tokens to keep her chin up while she discovered new medications and new symptoms.

He too took a class or two for loved ones that knew others with depression. He learned how to keep her away from triggers, how to help her confess that today was a bad day. He wanted nothing but the best for her and for Sakura to always be able to trust him. He went back to Target, getting little strings of lights she always wanted to decorate with and change their apartment to rooms that Tumblr blogs dreamed of; anything that kept his own sunshine glowing. Their black comforter he insisted on as she wanted the one that was white and covered in flower outlines in browns, pinks, and lavenders was found in the way back of the shelves in Sears. He didn't get rid of things in case she wanted them still. The black comforter stayed, just spread across the back of the couch. Sasuke knew she liked his touches to the apartment too and too much change would just throw her off.

So then he went to TJMaxx and bought all those damn jars of jams and jellies. He got stupid pillows that had phrases on them that she would like. The woman behind the counter wouldn't stop raving on how cute he was buying all this and that he must be rich and in love. Even with that being the exact case, it was rather rude in his opinion. He hauled this all to his car, then up the apartment building.

Sakura came home only a few days ago and was coping well. She kept being mesmerized by the little changes he had put everywhere. She always fingered the yarn on the large wall beside the walkway to the entrance of their apartment that hung in a zigzag. Little clothespins holding pictures were placed along them, creating an interesting collage of pictures welcoming guests in. Easy way to place pictures without hooks and pictures frames filled with glass the online tutorial had stated. Sakura also sat on the couch often, wrapping herself in the black comforter stating it smelled like him, and yes, that was a good thing.

He now realized maybe he should have decorated the shower a little or something for her. Sasuke turned to the towels in the cabinet before pulling out another one and placing it next to hers on the hand rail. He pulled the shower curtain a little to peek at her, just sitting on the shower chair with her hair spilled across her face. She had her eyes focused on her feet. She glanced up at him and then back down. Stepping back Sasuke now focused his hands on pulling his shirt off and pajama pants off to leave him in his boring black boxers. He stepped into the shower and squatting at her feet, forcing her to look at him. She seemed surprised he actually came in.

Sasuke reached forwards, pushing her hair to the sides of her face. There, now he could properly see all of her faint freckles on her pale skin, and that her green eyes were focused on him. He was enchanted with the way her darker pink eyelashes clumped together with drops of water settled on them, the way her nose also dripped water off it... he felt warm. She was so perfect and they could live with this change, because dammit she was so worth it.

"Which shampoo?" She had at least two shampoos and three conditioners in the shower. He knew they said they did different things, but honestly it meant nothing to him.

"Pink." He reached up, grabbing the pink one claiming that it'll be perfect for healthy straight hair. He poured some in his hand and lathered her hair, letting the water rinse it out. He stood up to grab the retractable shower head to get a closer soaking.

"The conditioner?"

"Purple."

With that, he grabbed the right colored bottles she pointed out and helped her wash. They skipped shaving since she didn't need it and it wouldn't be his specialty to help her with. Almost done she stood up abruptly and hugged his torso. Sasuke was caught off guard but he lifted his arms to hug her back, feeling her wet body press against his. It was the last thing on his mind honestly to think about her in a sexual way at the moment. He was just glad she wasn't crying, he didn't handle that well.

"I love you and everything you've done and I'm sorry I haven't said enough about all of it. You're amazing and thank you for pushing me to live."

"I love you too."

"I didn't mean to make you help me shower."

"I know. I didn't mind."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome. Do you want to do errands, or stay at home and do movies?"

"Errands as fast as possible and then movies."

"That's pretty ambitious of you."

"I'm trying!"

She smiled at him; her morning meds probably finally kicking in and helping her clear her mind. With a quick wash of his own hair and body even with the boxers on, Sasuke turned the water off and stepped out to grab the towel. Sakura grabbed hers and started toweling off her hair first before slipping the towel around her body. The two walked toward the bedroom, Sakura noticing the toast before Sasuke did.

"Did you make this for me?"

Sasuke nodded once, thinking how it was probably no good anymore. Sure enough though, she picked it up and took a bite anyways with a smile beaming at him. What a weird girl he concluded. Weird, but his.

Dressers opened and closed and hangers dropped on the ground, and they found themselves dressed and eventually ready to go. Sasuke locked the apartment up and Sakura grabbed his hand, eyes twinkling as they head down the stairs from their 5th level apartment.

She squeezed his hand, and jumped on the ground after the last step.

"My name is Sakura Hurano and today will be a good day. I understand I can't control everything but I accept that I can control how I let them affect me."

Sasuke let a small smile spread across his face. He would do everything to make sure Sakura got the life she deserved, with every moment he could influence himself. Sakura now understood that herself, yet he knew that he wanted to help her also.

"Teamwork." He muttered. She looked over at him and giggled.

"Yes Sasuke, it's teamwork. You got my back and I've got yours. Now let's go make these errands disappear so I can make you watch a chick flick!"

"Wait a minute…" She dragged him along not even bothering to acknowledge his resistance. Damn he had missed her though. He followed though taking her in mentally, and accepting that this was a new road for them, but oh how they would fight her depression. Sakura was all he had and he would make sure she was always comfortable around him. To let him know when she couldn't take it anymore. He never figured she was a damsel in distress, yet for her, he would be her knight in shining armor.

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AN: Yes, I went there with that cliché. Hope you enjoyed.

Review if you also like the thought of Sasuke being the one to help an emotional Sakura :)


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